Written by: hitarthpandya
2 min readVadodaraDec 27, 2009 01:10 AM IST
First published on: Dec 27, 2009 at 01:10 AM IST
Saint Valentine may have run into trouble with the moral police in Gujarat and elsewhere but Saint Nicholas a.k.a. Santa Claus is a clear favourite. So on Friday,Christmas Day,a Hanuman temple in Harni,Vadodara,chose Santa Claus to do the aarti and distribute the prasad.
The Santa stood along with the other devotees,his hands folded in prayer,and after the aarti,dipped his hand into a plastic bag and distributed the goodies—the day’s prasad. Kanubhai,a parking lot attendant who played Santa for the day,did look the part,even if a tad skinny—the red and white dress,the snowy beard,the happy paunch and the happier mask in place.
But when the mask came off,‘Santa’ had become Kanubhai,a man in his late 30s. He said he had taken the day off from his parking lot job in the city’s Sayajigunj area to don the Santa gear,all for Rs 100 a day.
“Santa is the messenger of love and non-violence and we thought it would be perfect to have him at the Hanuman Temple on Saturday,a day that Hanuman devotees consider auspicious. There are similarities between Santa and Hanuman. Hanuman used to love children and ensured that Lord Rama’s children,Luv and Kush,didn’t get into any trouble and remained happy,” says Harshadgiri Goswami,the priest at the temple,who says it was his idea to get Santa to the temple.
“We faced no opposition to the Santa Claus in our temple,neither from the Vishwa Hindu Parishad or the Bajrang Dal. Why should they oppose it anyway? If it brings smiles on a few faces,some joy,there is no harm in having Santa in the temple every Christmas season,” he says.
Kanubhai,meanwhile,went back to his parking lot on Saturday,happy that he had spread some cheer. “I did my job . People were happy to see me and children were thrilled. But I am glad I got my Rs 100,” he says.
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